Carpet sweeper with removable dustpan assembly



March 28, 1950 P. J. KIRCHER CARPET SWEEPER WITH REMOVABLE DUST PAN ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 12, 1945 FIG. I

PAUL .J.Kl RCH ER CARPET SWEEZER WITH REMOVABLE March 28,1950 P J KIRCHER I 2,502,403

DUST PAN ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 12, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 YPAULJKIRCHER March 28, 1950 P. J. KIRCHER 2,502,403

CARPET SWEEPER WITH REMOVABLE DUST PAN ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 12, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 PAULJKIRCHER FIG. 5

Patented Mar. 28, 1950 CAREET SWEEPER WITH REMOVABLE DUSTPAN ASSEMBLY Paul J. Kircher, Plainville, Conn, assignor to Landers, Frary & Clark, New BritainyConn a corporation of Connecticut Application September 12, 1945,1Serial No. 615,804

10 Claims.

This'invention relates to carpet sweepers, and particularly to the type having a dust pan insertable into and removable from the casing through the top of the latter.

Objects of the invention are to provide an improved arrangement wherein the dust pan, together with the cover, may be removed from the frame or casing through the top of the latter without lifting the sweeper or swinging out of the way the handle which is employed to move the sweeper over the carpet or floor; wherein the dust pan is connected to the cover in such manner that the pan may float relative to the cover and the casing as it rides over the rug or the like; wherein the ends of the trays of the dust pan are provided with hinged closure plates or doors for preventing the dust from escaping from the ends of the trays during sweeping operations, these doors being adapted to be swung out of the way after the pan is removed from the casing so that the accumulated dust may be discharged from either end of the trays, as desired; and wherein the cover is provided with a handle 'for removing the cover and the dust pan attached thereto from the casing and the handle also serves to latch the cover in place in the frame and prevent the hinged ends of the dust trays from opening.

A further aim of the invention is to provide a carpet sweeper having the above and other features of novelty and advantage and which is characterized by its simplicity in construction, its economy in manufacture, and the ease and facility with which the cover and dust pan may be removed and replaced within the casing.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the teatures of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be eXemplifled in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein is shown one embodiment which the present invention may take- Figure 1 is a perspective View of the carpet sweeper;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the sweeper, one end of the casing or frame being shown largely in elevation and the adjacent end of the cover and dust pan in central longitudinal section, while the other end of the cover and dust pan are shown in front, elevation.

Fig. 3'is-a transverse sectional view taken sub stantially on line -3& of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the dust pan, one of the end closures being shown in open position; and

Fig. 5 is a view showing the pan and cover assembly in the act of being removed from the casing, the cover and pan assembly being shown in end elevation and the casing being shown in transverse section.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the sweeper has a frame or casing comprising longitudinally extending side members it and end plates iii suitably secured to the ends of the side members. At the end of the frame are suitable "housings Or caps I 2 on which the end plates H fit. The caps house supporting wheels 13 which extend below the frame so as to on gage and ride over the surfaces to be cleaned. These wheels may be connected to the casing in any suitable way, the sarne not being shown in the drawings as it forms no part of the present invention. It is sufilcient to say that the wheels may be supported in the general manner shown in the patent to Stern, No. 2,233,754, granted March 4, 1941. The numeral it designates the usual brush located centrally of the ca-sing and having at each end a friction wheel or pulley 15 positioned between the supporting wheels 13 and engaging the same so that when the wheels are driven by movingthem over a carpet :or the like, the brush is driven. The pulleys, together with the brush carried thereby, maybe mounted for limited vertical movement in any suitable manner, and in this respectreference .may again be had to said Stern Patent No. 2,233,754. The end walls or plates H are notched as at is, so as to accommodate the core of the brush. The sweeper is provided with a bail as having a socket H .for receiving the handle it. The ends of the bail may be pivotally connected to the axles of the pulleys it so that, when the downward .pressureislexerted on the bail through the handle, the :brush is brought into :a more intimate contact with the carpet.

The casing has a removable cover 20 to which is connected the pan P in such manner that the pan may float a limited amount relative to the cover when the latter is in place on the casing. The upper edges of the caps or housings I2 are convexly curved and the cover is similarly curved so that its ends will rest upon those edges. The front and rear ends of the cover rest upon ledges 2! provided adjacent the tops of the sidemembers it of the frame. Depending from the cover and spaced inwardly from the marginal edges thereof is an apron rectangular in horizontal section and comprising end strips 22 and side strips 23. The end strips are provided with flanges 2d suitably connected, as by means of welding, to the underside of the cover. These strips serve to reinforce the cover, The upper edge of the dust pan is adapted to surround this apron, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The pan is supported from the cover by hanger rods 25 in a manner described later more in detail.

The dust pan comprises two trays disposed to opposite sides of the brush. The trays have outer vertical walls 3! and outwardly and upwardly inclined inner walls 32 over which the brush is adapted to sweep the dust into the trays. The trays are connected together in spaced relation by end pieces 33 which are in skeleton form. At each end of the pan is a hinged closure or door 34 which normally closes the ends of the trays (see Fig. 2) so as to prevent the dust accumulated within the trays from escaping from the ends thereof. These doors may be swung down (as shown by the nearest door in Fig. 4) so that the dust may be discharged from the trays by merely tilting the cover and pan assembly after the same has been removed from the casing. In the present instance, the doors are hinged adjacent their lower ends, as at 35, to the trays. The doors have centrally located cut-away portions or notches 36 so as to accommodate the brush.

As previously stated, the dust pan is connected to the cover in such manner that the pan may float vertically relative to the cover as the sweeper is moved over a rug or carpet. To this end, a lost motion connection between hanger rods 25 and the pan is provided. More particularly, the outer side walls 3| of the trays are provided, adjacent each end and their upper edges, with vertically elongated openings or slots 40 into which the ends of the rods 25 extend. In the present instance, these slots 5!! are provided in grommets d! carried by the walls 31 of the trays. Each rod is in the form of a resilient bowed wire and these rods are connected at their central portions to the cover by means of curved tabs or hooks 42. The tabs d2 are preferably struck from the cover as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The rods, adjacent their ends, engage in the crotches of inverted V-shaped notches 43 provided in the lower edges of the side member 23 of the cover apron. This arrangement permits ready assembly of the pan on the cover. It is merely necessary to insert the ends of the rods into the slots 45, position the cover on the pan with the notches 43 receiving the rods, and then engage the central portions of the rods with the hooks or tabs 42.

The cover has a handle by means of which the cover and pan assembly may be readily removed from, and replaced into, the casing through the open top of the latter. The handle is disposed along the medial longitudinal center of the cover and has downturned ends or arms 5| extending through slots 52 in the cover adjacent the ends thereof. In order to prevent the handle from becoming detached from the cover, the arms are provided with stops in the form of studs 53. When the handle is in the normal position shown in Fig. 2, the studs 53 lie behind the upper ends of the doors 34 of the dust pan so that the doors are prevented from moving into partially opened position.

Means is provided between the handle and casing for attaching the cover to the casing so that the cover cannot become displaced when carrying the sweeper, or during a sweeping operation. More particularly, there is provided on each end member ll of the casin a pair of spring fingers 5-5 curved towards each other between their ends and having their upper ends bent outwardly as at 55'. Each flange 24 is provided at its central portion with a pair of downwardly offset opposed lugs or keepers 56 adapted to respectively engage beneath the ends 55' of the associated pair of fingers when the fingers are forced apart by the arms 5| of the handle 50. The fingers normally tend to assume the position shown in Fig. 5 where the distance between the ends 55 is less than that between the lugs 56 so that when the cover is positioned in place on the casing the lugs may straddle the fingers. When the fingers are in this position, th distance between the opposed curved portions thereof is less than the width of the arms 5! of the handle so that the fingers are forced apart by these arms when the handle is forced down. When the fingers are thus forced apart, the ends 55 thereof engage over the keepers or lugs 56, as shown in Fig. 3. Thus the cover is positively locked in place.

It will be seen from the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings that, when the parts are assembled as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the cover rests upon the frame or casing and the pan is suspended from the cover for limited vertical movement which may be caused by the bottom of the pan engaging the rug or the like as the sweeper is moved onto and off of the same. As will be apparent, the dust pan P will float, within limits, independently of all the other elements of the carpet sweeper including the brush I4, wheels l3 and the casing. This permits the pan to ride closely over the surface to be cleaned for efiicient cleaning operation while at the same time variations or unevenness in the surface is compensated for because the pan-rides freely over any such surface without snagging and without making the carpet sweeper hard to operate. The handle rests upon the top of the cover and is latched in position by the spring fingers 55 so, while the pan may float with respect to the cover, the cover is held in position on the casing. During a sweeping operation, the brush will sweep the dust into one of the pans, depending upon the direction in which the sweeper is moved, and this dust is prevented from escaping from the ends of the pan by the doors 36 and from flying over the outer Walls of the pan by the apron comprising the parts 22 and 23. When it is desired to clean the dust trays, it is merely necessary to pull up on the handle 50 thereby disengaging the arms thereof from the spring fingers and then moving the cover and pan assembly upwardly and laterally, as shown in Fig. 5. This may be done while the bail IE5 is in the vertical position shown in that figure; in fact, it will be found convenient to rest the palm of the operators hand on the bail and engage the fingers of the hand below the handle and then close the hand. After the cover and pan assembly is removed, either of the doors may be swung down and then the assembly tilted so that the dust will pour out of the now open end of the pan.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above -description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not cover, a pair of spring fingers on each of the end walls of the casing and arranged to receive said arms and to be forced apart thereby, and keepers on the cover with which said fingers interlock.

2'. In a carpet sweeper, a casing open at its top, a cylindrical brush rotatable relative to and extending longitudinally through the casing, a removable cover constituting a closure for the top of the casing and resting thereon, a pan suspended from the cover and having a pair of dust trays adapted to receive the dust, a handle carried by said cover for limited vertical movement relative thereto and havin a grip portion and an arm extending downwardly through said cover, a pair of spring fingers on the casing and arranged to receive said arm and to be forced apart thereby, the free upper ends of said fingers being outturned, and a pair of opposed keepers on the cover arranged to straddle the free ends of said fingers when the cover is positioned in place and to receive said outturned ends when the handle is moved down against the cover.

3. In a carpet sweeper, a frame open at its top, a cylindrical brush extending longitudinally through the frame, a removable combined cover and pan assembly comprising a cover resting upon the top of the frame and a pan carried by the cover and suspended therefrom, said pan having a pair of dust trays straddling the brush and a downwardly swinging hinged door at each end of the pan, a handle connected to the cover for a limited movement relative thereto and having downward extensions arranged when the handle is in down position on the cover to prevent said doors from swinging open, and disengageable connecting means between the cover and the frame for securing the cover in place.

4. In a carpet sweeper, a frame having a compartment defined by end walls and side walls and open at its bottom and at its top, a cylindrical brush rotatable relative to and extending longitudinally through said frame, a removable cover constituting a closure for the top of the frame and adapted to rest thereon, a handle for the cover having a longitudinally extending grip portion and down-turned ends extending through the cover, a dust pan in said compartment suspended from said cover and connected thereto so as to be removed therewith, said pan having a pair of trays extending across the bottom opening of said frame straddling said brush and said pan also having a downwardly swinging hinged door at each end of the pan, said arms when the grip portion of the handle is against the cover lying in the path of movement of the upper ends of the doors so as to prevent the doors from swinging open, and spring fingers carried by the end walls of the compartment and engageable withjsaid arms for maintaining the 'handle'aga'inst the top of thecover.

5. In ,a carpet sweeper, a casing open at its top, wheels supporting said casing, a cylindrical brush extending longitudinally through said casing, means operable to rotatably drive said brush fromsaid wheels, and a removable cover and pan assembly comprising, in combination, anexterior .cover extending across the open top of the easing, a dust pan having trays straddlingsaid brush and the bottom of the casing being open beneath said trays, and means for suspendin the pan from the cover for limited vertical movement relative thereto.

6. In a carpet sweeper, a casing open at its top, wheels supporting said casing, a cylindrical brush extending longitudinally through said .casing, means operable to rotatably drive said brush from said wheels, and a removable cover and .pan

assembly comprising, in combination, a cover constituting a closure for the open top .of the casing and resting thereon, a pan havin a pair of trays straddling the brush and the bottom of the casing beneath said trays being open, said pan having outer walls provided with vertically extending elongated openings, and rods connected to the underside of said cover and having their ends extending through said openings.

7. In a carpet sweeper, a casing open at its top, wheels supporting said casing, a cylindrical brush extending longitudinally through said casing, means operable to rotatably drive said brush from said wheels, and a cover and pan assembly removable as a unit through the top of the casing and comprising, in combination, a cover closing and resting upon the top of the casing, a pan having a pair of trays straddling the brush and the bottom of said casing beneath said trays being open, and means for suspending the pan from the casing for vertical floating movement, said last-mentioned means comprising vertical slots in the walls of the pan and rods connected at their central portions to the underside of the casing and having their ends extendin through said slots.

8. In a carpet sweeper, a frame open at its top, a cylindrical brush extending longitudinally through said frame, means operable to rotatably drive said brush, wheels supporting said casing and driving said brush operating means, and a removable cover and pan assembly comprising a cover resting upon the top of the casing and a pan connected to said cover for vertical floating movement relative thereto and the bottom of said casing being open beneath said pan, said cover having an apron with depending longitudinally extending side portions provided with notches in their lower edges, said pan having vertical outer walls outside of and projecting above the lower edges of said side portion of the apron, said side walls having, adjacent their upper edges, vertically extending slots, and transversely extending resilient rods connected at their central portions to the under side of the cover and having their ends seated in said notches and extending through said slots.

, 9. In a carpet sweeper, a frame open at its top, wheels supporting said frame, a cylindrical brush extending longitudinally through said frame, means operable to rotatably drive said brush from said wheels, and a removable combined cover and pan assembly comprising, in combination, a cover resting upon the top of the frame and a pan carried by said cover and suspended therefrom for limited vertical movement relative to the cover, said cover having a depending apron spaced inwardly of the edges of the cover, said pan having a pair of dust trays straddling the brush and the bottom of the casin being open beneath said trays, and a downwardly swinging hinged door at each end of the pan, the upper edge of said pan being in surrounding relation to said apron.

10. In a carpet sweeper, a casing open at its top, a cylindrical brush rotatable relative to and extending longitudinally through said casing, a removable cover constituting a closure for the open top of the casing and resting thereon, a pan depending from the cover and having a pair of trays straddling the brush, a handle carried by the cover for limited movement relative thereto and having a rip portion and down-turned arms extending through the cover, and disengageable means operable to separably connect said cover and casing, said means comprising spring fingers on the end Walls of the casing and means on the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 217,854 Bissell July 29, 1879 233,137 Bissell Oct. 12, 1880 488,950 Raymond Dec. 27, 1892 798,765 Crossman Sept. 5, 1905 1,160,010 Svenson Nov. 9, 1915 2,050,361 Milligan Aug. 11, 1936 2,108,003 Strough Feb. 8, 1938 2,153,916 Dunbar Apr. 11, 1939 2,227,104 Parker Dec. 13, 1940 

